Toy steering device



May 29, 1956 e. H. LEE 2,747,323

TOY STEERING DEVICE Filed Dec. 17, 1952 INVENTOR. George A. lee

ll'nited States Patent G TOY STEERING DEVICE George H. Lee, Oak Ridge,Tenn.

Application December 17, 1952, Serial No. 326,509

7 Claims. (Cl. 46-1) The present invention relates to toy steeringdevices for use in moving vehicles, such as automobiles.

There are presently available toy steering wheels for use in movingvehicles. These are usually attachable to the dashboard of an automobileby a rubber suction cup, or the like, and frequently they have a toygear shift associated therewith. However, in the use of these toys thereis present no element of cause and effect, nor is there any element ofskill required in their manipulation. There are also available devicesof the type illustrated by U. S. Pat. No. 2,148,828, Coin Freed GameApparatus, issued February 28, 1939, to M. Myers, wherein a toy car isunder the control of a steering wheel and arbitrary movements of aroadway are effected by motor driven means, the object of the devicebeing to test the players skill in manipulating the steering wheel tomaintain the car on the roadway. These latter devices are not intendedfor use as toys in moving automobiles, and, if so used, the apparentmovements of the toy car on the roadway, and the required correctivemovements of the steering wheel would, of course, bear no relationshipwhatsoever to the movements of the actual automobile on the actualroadway and the movements of the actual automobile steering wheel.

The principal object of the present invention is to introduce elementsof skill, and of cause and effect, into toy steering devices of the typeintended for use in moving automobiles.

Another object is to provide a toy steering device for use in movingautomobiles wherein a toy car is movable with respect to a simulatedroadway under the control .of a toy steering wheel and the simulatedroadway is movable in response to inertia forces induced by movements ofthe actual automobile.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a toy steeringdevice, as in the preceding object, wherein the corrective movements ofthetoy steering wheel required to maintain the toy car properly alignedon the simulated roadway approximate in direction, and to a less extent,in magnitude, the actual movements of the actual automobile steeringwheel.

The above and other objects of the invention will become apparent fromthe following description when considered in the light of the appendeddrawing, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a toy steering device embodying the principlesof the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a central sectional elevation view taken along the lines 2-2of Fig. l; v

Fig. 3 is a sectional view of a detail taken along the lines 3-3 of Fig.2; and

Fig. 4 is a sectional view of a detail taken along the lines 4-4 of Fig.2; and

Fig. 5 is a sectional view of a modified form of the invention.

In accordance with the broadest principles of the pres ent invention,the device presents to the players view two associated independentlymovable elements, one of which constitutes or represents a toy car, andthe other "ice of which comprises a simulated roadway upon which the toycar appears to be travelling. A weight or pendulum like member isconnected to the simulated roadway so that the roadway moves in responseto inertia forces induced by changes in velocity (magnitude and/ordirection) of the actual automobile. The toy car is connected to a toysteering device which is manipulated by the player so as to maintain thetoy car in its correct position relative to the roadway.

In the preferred application of the broad principles outlined above, thetwo associated elements are angularly movable only, they are pivotedabout a common axis, and the element representing the roadway isresponsive, primarily at least, to centrifugal forces induced by turningmovements of the actual automobile.

Referring now to the drawing, wherein a specific illustrative embodimentof the preferred principles of the present invention is disclosed,reference numeral 1 designates the one movable element comprising orrepresenting a toy car, and reference numeral 4 designates the othermovable element comprising a simulated roadway; The simulated roadway 4is in the form of a plate having on its upper surface appropriatepictures, lane markings, and other indicia, one of which may representanother toy car 5, the overall effect being to present the appearance ofa roadway upon which toy car 4 appears to be travelling.

Both the toy car 1 and roadway plate 4 are individually rotatablysupported from a hollow cylindrical element 13 which projects upwardlyfrom the top of box 8. Box'8 forms a support base for the entire deviceand is intended to sit in the players lap with the inclined bottom 10thereof lying in a substantially horizontal plane so that the remainderof the device is tilted inwardly somewhat toward the player, it beingunderstood that the player is sitting in a normal position on a seat ofthe automobile and facing the front end of the automobile.

The roadway plate 4 is attached to an off center projection 14 of ashaft 6 which extends through the hollow interior of cylindrical element'13 and is rotatably suspended therefrom by means of cooperating annularlug and slot 15.

The toy car 1 is fixedly attached to a pin 2 which is coaxial withrespect to shaft 6 and which extends through 'a hole in plate 4. Pin 2is fixedly connected to the central annular hub portion 16 of a toysteering wheel 3 by being attached to a radially inward extension 19 ofthe hub portion, which extension projects slightly beyond the axis ofshaft 6 but terminates prior to the off center projection 14 of shaft 6.Hub portion 16 of steering wheel 3 has a downwardly extending annularcollar 17 which fits over cylindrical element 13 and is rotatablysupported thereon by means of cooperating annular lug and slot 18.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that toy car 1 and roadway plate4 are independently rotatable about a common axis (the axis of pin 2),and that the angular position of toy car 1 is under the control of theplayer through his manipulation of toy steering Wheel 3. Engagement ofextension 19 and projection 14 after somewhat less than relativerotation between toy car 1 and roadway plate 4 establishes a limit tothe degree of relative rotation between car 1 and plate 4.

Shaft 6 terminates at its bottom in a perpendicularly extending stem 20,which, in turn, terminates in a relatively heavy weight or bob 7, stem20 and weight 7 forming a pendulum like arrangement located within box8.

In the operation of the toy, it will be apparent that when the box 8 isheld such that its bottom '10 lies in a substantially horizontal plane,the weight 7 is rotatable in a plane which is inclined to thehorizontal. .G-ravity, therefore, provides a restoring torque tending tomaintain the weight 7, and therefore roadway plate 4, in its normalindicated position. When the actual automobile is travelling along astraight road, this torque will be unopposed and the roadway plate 4will remain in its normal indicated position. However, whenever theactual automobile is executing a turn, the resulting centrifugal forceon weight 7 produces a torque which tends to rotate it, and roadwayplate 4, in a direction which depends upon the direction of the turnbeing executed (clockwise in Figs. 1 and 4 if the turn is to the right,and counterclockwise if the turn is to the left). The weight 7 androadway plate 4 will then assume some equilibrium angular position,different from that indicated in the drawing, whereat the centrifugaland gravitational torques are in balance. If, in the meantime, the toycar 1 has been retained in its original indicated position, the car 1will give the appearance of being headed off the road in the samedirection as the actual automobile appears to be headed off the actualroad, that is, off the road to the right for a left hand turn and viceversa. Of course, the player attempts to manipulate the toy steeringwheel so as to maintain continuous alignment of the toy car on thesimulated roadway. It will be noted that in order to accomplish thisobject, the toy steering wheel must be manipulated so as toapproximately and substantially simultaneously reproduce the movementsof the actual automobile steering wheel.

It is highly desirable in the above described device to provide dampingmeans for the weight 7 to avoid undue oscillations of the weight "aboutits equilibrium position. Such damping means is indicated in Fig. 2, forillustrative purposes, as comprising conventional magnetic type dampingmeans consisting of metal sheet 11, attached to shaft 6, and associatedpermanent magnet 12 through the gap of which sheet 11 is forced torotate as weight 7 rotates. Any of the many other known types of dampingmechanism would, of course, be satisfactory for this purpose.

It will be apparent that it is not necessary to rely solely on gravityfor the above referred to restoring torque. A suitable restoring torquemay be provided, if desired, by means of a simple spring connectionbetween the box 8 and either shaft 6, stem 20, or weight 7, tending tounnecessary to operate the device in a position such that the plane ofrotation of weight 7 lies in an inclined plane.

Also it would be desirable, particularly if gravity is relied on as thesole restoring torque for weight 7, that is, if the optional springconnection 21 is not provided, to provide means for limiting the angulardeviation of weight 7 to a maximum deviation of about 90 in eitherdirection from its indicated normal position. For this purpose lugs 22projecting downwardly from the top of box 8 may be employed as stops forweight 7, if desired.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view looking down from just beneath the top of box8 and showing alternate mechanism within the box for controlling themovement of shaft 6 and roadway plate 4. In this case, perpendicularlyextending stem 20, corresponding to stem 20 of Fig. 2, has alongitudinally extending slot 26. Weight 7, in this case, is not fixedlyattached to stem 20', but instead is adapted to ride on a wire 25 whichextends horizontally between opposite sides of the box, weight 7' havinga horizontally extending hole therethrough to accommodate wire 25.Weight 7 has a downwardly depending pin 27 which rides in the slot 26 ofstem 20', thereby forcing stem 20 and roadway plate 4 to adopt anangular position corresponding to the horizontal position of weight 7.

In the modification of Fig. 5, fluid friction damping means is employedinstead of the magnetic damping means of Fig. 2, and spring means isexclusively employed to provide the restoring torque for shaft 6 androadway plate 4. For these purposes, another perpendicularly extendingstem 28 is attached to shaft 6 opposite stem 20. Spring means,illustrated as rubber band 24, is attached at its center to the end ofstem 28, and at its ends to opposite sides of box 8, to thereby providea restoring torque tending to maintain stem 28 and shaft 6 in itsindicated normal position. A pair of readily flexible airtightaccordion-like elements '30 extend from stem 28 to opposite sides of box8. Stem 28 has a small orifice 29 therethrough permitting air to passslowly from the interior of one of elements 30 to the other. It will beapparent that elements 30 cooperate with stem 23 and orifice 29 to forma simple air bellows, to thereby provide. an air friction type dampingmechanism.

The operation of Fig. 5 is entirely analogous to that of Figs. 1 to 4.Since gravity is not relied on to provide the restoring torque forroadway plate 4, the mechanism of Fig. 5 need not be operated in aninclined plane. If desired, the spring means, represented by elasticband 24, could be incorporated into the accordion like elements 30,themselves.

Certain refinements may be incorporated in the above described toysteering device, if desired. For example, the realism of the devicewould be considerably enhanced by the provision of a restoring torquetending to maintain the toy steering wheel 3, and therefore toy car 1,in its normal indicated position. Elastic band 9 (Fig. 2), connectedbetween the box 8 and the hub 16 of the toy steering wheel, represents asimple spring connection suitable for providing such a restoring torque.

Preferably, a transparent plastic cover 23 is fixedly attached t0 thespokes of steering wheel 3 to serve as protection for the toy car 1 androadway plate 4. As a cheap version of the toy, the toy car 1 could beeliminated, as such, and replaced with a picture of a car located on theplastic cover 23 so that it appears to be positioned on the simulatedroadway in the same position as the toy car 1 is positioned.

The device could also be improved somewhat, if desired, by insertingreduction gearing between the toy steering wheel 3 and the toy car 1,whereby a given rotation of wheel 3 results in a lesser rotation of car1.

Since many changes could be made in the above construction and manyapparently widely different embodiments of this invention could be madewithout departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all mattercontained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawingsshall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

What is claimed is:

l. A toy steering device for use in a moving vehicle comprising twoelements visible to the operator of the device and individuallyrotatable about a common axis, the first of said elements representing atoy car and the second of said elements representing a roadway uponwhich the toy car appears to be travelling, a toy steering wheelmanually rotatable by the operator of the device, a mechanicalinterconnection between said toy steering wheel and the first of saidelements for turning the toy car to change its apparent direction oftravel with respect to said roadway, a weight member movable in responseto inertia forces induced by changes in the velocity of the movingvehicle, and a mechanical interconnection between said weight member andthe second of said elements for turning the roadway to change itsorientation with respect to said car, whereby turning the steering wheelthen steers the car to keep it in its proper roadway path.

2. A toy steering device for use in a moving vehicle comprising twoindividually rotatable elements visible to the operator of the device,the first of said elements representing a toy car and the second of saidelements representing a roadway upon which the toy car appears to betravelling and with respect to which roadway the toy car is normallyaligned, said toy car element and said roadway element being mounted forindividual rotation about a common axis such that rotation of eitherdirectly introduces misalignment thcrebetween, a toy steering wheelmanually rotatable by the operator of the device, a direct mechanicalinterconnection between said toy steering wheel and the first of saidelements, whereby any existing misalignment of said car with respect tosaid roadway may be directly removed by rotation of said steering wheel,a weight member mounted to be movable in response to centrifugal forcesexerted in a direction perpendicular to the normal direction of apparentmovement of said car along said roadway and induced by turning movementsof the toy steering device as a whole about an axis olfset from saiddevice as a whole, and a direct mechanical interconnection between saidweight member and the second of said elements, whereby misalignment ofsaid roadway with respect to said toy car is directly introduced bymovement of said weight member.

3. Apparatus, as claimed in claim 2, further including means tending toretain the second of said elements in a normal central position.

4. Apparatus, as claimed in claim 2, further including References Citedin the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 579,253 Blackburn Mar.23, 1897 1,090,707 Hamel Mar. 17, 1914 2,108,726 Rocuskie Feb. 15, 19382,148,828 Myers Feb. 28, 1939 2,523,902 Eflinger Sept. 26, 1950 FOREIGNPATENTS 452,735 Great Britain Aug. 28, 1936

